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This article from the Charleston Gazette points to serious issues in southern and South Central West Virginia in terms of teenagers having children. The number of teenage girls having children in McDowell County is 7 times more per thousand than it is in Monongalia, which points to widely differing attitudes among young people in the two areas. It is unclear what impact differing economic conditions might play in the situation...
Well CTMountaineer, I've often pondered these questions about our area here in McDowell. I have came to several conclusions. There is that fatalistic mentality that infest itself in some residents. There is no hope, I'm not goin to be nothing, I can get my freak on, I get a baby and my life will be better. Which of course is pretty dumb. They live for the now, in the moment. There is a cycle of poverty that exist for Whites in War, Iaeger, Panther and also in the poor African American areas of Northfork, Keystone, and Kimball. You have two races of people who are poor and disenfranchised. McDowell County has the highest African American percentage of residents in WV. Kids in Monongalia have mostly professional, hard working educated parents, a better school system/support structure, are financially able, more progressive views toward safe sex, and have economic means to want to go to college. At this point there has to be a fundamental change in school system, which is being implemented with the Reconnecting McDowell initiative, there has to be a better message to send to the youth, that there is hope and a emphasis on goin to college. Better access to birth control methods, no glamorization of the Teen Mom phenomenon. Of course the flip side of this is we're trying to raise our birthrate to combat the loss of population over the last 60 years, which is finally starting to stabilize now. There are smart kids who do make it out and go to college and do great things from McDowell, and there are smart kids who don't have a ways, mean, and a dream to make it out. We can only hope these new initiatives and more economic opportunities for the people of McDowell can make the future brighter for the teenagers of the county.
Well CTMountaineer, I've often pondered these questions about our area here in McDowell. I have came to several conclusions. There is that fatalistic mentality that infest itself in some residents. There is no hope, I'm not goin to be nothing, I can get my freak on, I get a baby and my life will be better. Which of course is pretty dumb. They live for the now, in the moment. There is a cycle of poverty that exist for Whites in War, Iaeger, Panther and also in the poor African American areas of Northfork, Keystone, and Kimball. You have two races of people who are poor and disenfranchised. McDowell County has the highest African American percentage of residents in WV. Kids in Monongalia have mostly professional, hard working educated parents, a better school system/support structure, are financially able, more progressive views toward safe sex, and have economic means to want to go to college. At this point there has to be a fundamental change in school system, which is being implemented with the Reconnecting McDowell initiative, there has to be a better message to send to the youth, that there is hope and a emphasis on goin to college. Better access to birth control methods, no glamorization of the Teen Mom phenomenon. Of course the flip side of this is we're trying to raise our birthrate to combat the loss of population over the last 60 years, which is finally starting to stabilize now. There are smart kids who do make it out and go to college and do great things from McDowell, and there are smart kids who don't have a ways, mean, and a dream to make it out. We can only hope these new initiatives and more economic opportunities for the people of McDowell can make the future brighter for the teenagers of the county.
That makes sense. I'm not sure everything is related to education. Sometimes it has to do with what happens in the home, and if kids are brought up in a family that feels there is little hope, it would make sense that they would develop the attutudes you mention. Then we have the whole religious issue. Catholics and fundamentalists tend to view birth control in a negative manner, especially fundamentalists who believe even the mention of sex in schools is wrong. Bring up that topic, and you might have a whole legion beating down the door. Parents in this area, even the Catholic ones, tend to look for younger folks to protect themselves from pregnancy even if that is not the official position of their religion. My hunch is things are more fundamentalist based in McDowell, and those folks have as much sex as anybody else... they just believe it isn't proper to talk about it, and they are embarrassed to talk about it with their kids because they associate it with being sinful.
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